Interlocked grating



Oct. 2, 1934. L B v 1,975,281

INTERLOCKED GRATING Filed June 24, 1952 5 NVE-NT'OR Louis Lamb ATTORNEY 5' UNITED STATES PATENT GFFlCE INTERLOCKED GRATING Louis Norman Lumb, Long Island City, N. Y., assignor to Irving Iron Works Company, a corporation'of New York Application June 24, 1932, Serial No. 619,078 11 Claims. (Cl. 94-8) This invention relates primarily to the armorcomplete outline of each at and adjacent to theing of pavements and floors by the use of a cheap, joint, and

light weight grating which is more or less flex- Fig. l is a cross section on line 44 of Fig. 1, .,ible along lines transversely of its mesh, but is also shown on a larger scale. '5 also. sufficiently self-sustaining for transporta- Throughout the drawing like reference charac- 60 tion from factory to job location, if it is desired ters indicate like parts. to follow that procedure, or can be assembled on The essential structure of the grating is com-- the job from the constituent elements. When p s d s p y o a plurality of metal Strips, preferassembled in panel form it can be placed ably of uniform length and depth, each of which l-"on properly spaced apart supports and is then has been crimped or bent to a substantially uni- 65 capable of maintaining its shape and sustaining rm Wav -lik u lin and pr vi e with means the weight of workmen, forms for concrete filling, f r i l king h ja n wave rests of sucand vehicles needed for transporting such concessive strips when the latter are assembled side .crete or other plastic cement mixture to the variby side. i ld'ous points on the surface of the grating at which For purposes of description the various bent 70" such concrete or cement is to be dumped. strips Shown in 1 y b v d d into W Another object of the invention is to produce clas es, those Of One Class being marked A a grating of the honeycomb or reticuline type and A5 and being so a d that y av which can be assembled on the job without riveto u t u of e ch Wave rest and pro- Zbing or bolting or welding, being composed of jecting upwardly, While these 0f the Other Class 7 standard weight metal strips crimped and cut in marked and B6 have similar tongues the shop to a uniform wave-like outline and interprojecting dewnwerdly, as b shOWIl n i locked on the job. Such strips, if desired, can be Two connected pa ls a u a d i Fi 1, t

hi ed in bundles from the plant to the job d of strips s m la ly ma d, a A 3, A5, i location and there interlocked to form the grating the Several p nels abutting when the panels are .80 without requiring the use of tools other than a jo n d t th d to d, as do also the ps hammer employed for forcing such strips to- Similarly marked 132,134 and gether in interlocking relation each with the All Of Said p however, have the e rm others so that each one is produced by the same series Still another object is to produce, in the above of Crimping and Punching Operations pp t described manner, out of relatively short bent strips of the Same length, and h n es strips a substantially continuous grating of uniabove noted result merely from turning O Set Of form mesh and of indefinite length and breadth p s B B B6, upside down with reference which shall have nearly uniform strength at all to h h r t A3 5 w a h pa f 35-points for resisting stresses tending to bend it the g a is being assembledabout any axis extending transversely of the Thes t u s 1 a 2 could b o rwise formed longer dimensions of its meshes, and so serve as then by cutting them l of the Strips A e a continuous surface armoring for concrete pavas Shown, but the essfentlal feature the mven" I Wing and floorings. Its other objects and advantion is that each stnp Shall be provlded at the crest of each of the successive waves of the out- 40-ta es will be hereinafter pointed out or be obvious on a more detailed explanation of the invenhne Into whlch has been cnmped-wlu-l a tongue,

i are r test in er 00 re m e 091 e V .lspose engagmg t ljz m? g at means on the crest of any of the waves of any 46 e n own U0 me, is 1 us ra e in e ac adjacent trip which may have such ton cgmpanywg Sheet of f m wtnch interlocking means projecting in the opposite di- E i 1 15 F plan'vlew of .Stnp of concljete rection. Preferably, however, these tongues are a n f part5 bmken away and my made integral with the strips and are formed by proved grating used as a surface armoring there- Simply notching each trip t int adjacent 50 the ends of each wave crest, as shown at 3, 3, to

1 Fig. 2 1s a perspective detail View of one of the a, depth one 1 ,11? f th e tire depth of the strip interlocked joints between adjacen ps Shown when it is set on edge and consequently to a depth n an nla d s a w 'ba t broken w yone half that of the grating formed when a plu- Fig. 3 is a similar view of the members of am rality of such strips of uniform depth are assem- 55 otherjoint, the parts being separated to show the bled and interlocked one with another by the circular perforation 4 of uniform size, the center of which'is located midway of the length of the that when the tongues are interlocked, as shown in Fig. 1, by hooking one over the other, the holes 4, 4, in each set of wave crests arranged transversely of any panel of grating so formed will all lie in one and the same straight line so that a keying rod 5 can be pushed through the holes to look all the strips together, and also to give the panel acertain degree of stiffness against forces tending to bend it about an axis extending longitudinally of said panel. 7 a If all strips. are of uniform depth and are notched as above described, their upperedges will then lie in one plane and their lower edges in another plane parallel to the first, thus forming a perfect panel of honeycomb or reticuline grating without the use of rivets or other fastening means, unless the rods 5, 5, are employed to give the panels the additional stiffness above described.

If a continuous grating or armoring is to be used each strip preferably terminates at each end in a half wave crest length 6 and the end edge of the strip has a semicircular notch 7 formed therein so that when two such ends abut a circular hole is thereby formed of the same diameter as the holes 4, 4, in the tongues 1 and 2,

and as a result every two such abutting half wave crest lengths 6, 6, form a composite tongue which has the same configuration as the one piece tongues 1 and 2, and is therefore adapted to interlock with them if oppositely disposed, as best shown in Fig. 2. The keying rods 5, 5, or other keying means, then pass through the circular openings formed by the registering, semicircular notches '7, 7, in the abutting ends of any two corresponding strips A1, A1, or B2, B2, &c. in the successive. assembled panels of grating, and also through some of the holes 4, 4, in other strips and thus lock the successive panels together, as shown in Fig. 1, if the strips of one class, as Al, A3, in

' each panel are staggered endwise with reference to those of the other class B2, B4, &c. so that the ends of strips of one class project at one end of the panel and those of the other class at the other end of the panel.

If separate panels are to be used at the ends of which all strips are to be connected together, each strip should then be given a full wave crest end portion 8 with a hole 4 in it so that all these free ends can be securely keyed together by a rod 5 or other keying means. Such an arrangement is shown at the left hand end of Fig. 1, and where.

successive panels are keyed together end to end to form along grating or armoring, the end panels of each such assembly should have their 'outer ends formed as above described. To pro duce this result one set of strips in such end panel, as A1, A3, he. would be made a half mesh length longer than the other set B2, 134, he. so that the other ends of the longer set will pro.-

ject beyond those of the shorter set one half mesh length at the other end of the panel to form the desired interleaved joint with the next panel. All the intermediate panels, of the grating assembly would, however, be formed of strips of even length so that each such panel end would have half its strips, as Al, A3,, 8w. projecting a half mesh length at one end and the strips of the other set B2, B4, &c. projecting such. half mesh length at the other end of the panel. Panels versing' the arrangement shown at the left hand tongue and midway of the depth: of the strip, so it end of Fig. 1 is employed. Thus a grating or armoring assembly would be produced, the strips at the ends of which would all have a full wave crest length enabling them to be securely keyed together by arod 5 or other fastening means.

A grating thus formed will present at all joints between successive panels a certain resistance to bending around any axis extending transversely of the panel due to the half mesh length interleaving of the strips which are keyed together at points a half mesh length apart, and this power of resistance can be heightened by extending the interleaving arrangement for a distance greater than ahalf mesh length by extending or increasing the staggering of some or all of one set of strips with reference to the other set to the desired degree.

Also the outsidefstrips, as A1, can be made longer than the strips in the interior of the grating so as to leave fewer exposed butt joints such as shown at 9 in Fig.4 and the saineprocedure could be followed with the strips forming the other side edge of the grating assembly.

If the tongues 1 and 2 are formed by notching the edges of the strips at 3, 3, as shown and above described, a locating of these notches at the proper points slightly removed from the full' crest of each wave section automatically produces the necessary slight offsetting of each of the two engaging tongues'so as to enable them to slip easily but closely one behind the other when the strips are assembled for mutual interlocking. Such arrangement is clearly shown in Fig. 3. If the notches 3, 3, are formed by punching out portions of these strips, the burr left on the edges of the notches will serve as a friction means for holding the strips in interlocked relation after they have been forced together, as shown in Fig. 2.

An important use of the grating. above described is in the formation of a cheap, light weight armoring for the surface of concrete panels and continuous roadways, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4, where 10 represents a concrete filling poured and set in and, or under the mesh of the grating. It might also be possible to first form the concrete surface and then roll the armoring into it before it sets.

Among the obvious advantages of the invention may be mentioned the following: The. strips composing it being of uniform length and outline (with the possible exception of the few required for the end panels) can be made in quantity by a standardized operation in the shop, each originally straight strip being cut' the same length, punched to form similar holes 4, 4, and notches 3, 3, all uniformly spaced apart, and each strip having similar end notches 7, 7'. The latter could be formed by making the strips a little longer than the length required for the finished article, punching holes 4near the ends of each strip and then cutting off said strip ends along lines passing transversely through the centers of said holes. The punched strips so formed are then uniformly crimped on a simple set of dies, the holes 4, 4, serving to accurately register each wavecrest in such dies, and then the finished strips can be bundled together like fagots and transported to the job location. On the job the strips are interlocked to form the grating by simply turning every other one upside down and lformed,

.strip by slots cut therein at points driving the members of one set into engagement withthose of the other set after causing notches 3, 3, to register. This can be done with a hammer or. even by the workman stamping onthe assembled strips with' his heels. The desired number of rods 5, 5, are then inserted and the job is complete if only a grating is to'be produced. If the grating is to beused as armoring, the concrete is added. If desired the assembly of eachpanel can'be'doneon the bench at the shop and only the interlocking of successive panels performed on the job. If the foundation is somewhat uneven and it is desired to have the grating adjust itself thereto, the keying rods 5 may be omitted and the grating will then be flexed within limits to fit the foundation much as a sheet of chain mail adjusts itself to the body of the wearer. On the other hand, a strong, self-supporting grating can be formed by using a sufllcient number of transverse rods 5, 5, thus producing a structure which will support a considerable moving or stationary weight when resting on spaced apart bearings and maintain a smooth, even, plane surface at all times.

A minimum cost of production results from the low cost of materials, absence of waste materials and small amount of labor required. Special splices and cutouts can be made by the workmen on the job with the use of a hack saw to cut the desired number of strips to the desired length. All handling of small rivets, bolts and nuts is avoided and the interlocked joints form an excellent bond for the concrete filling as do also the transverse rods 5 which are wholly sub- .merged in concrete.

Various changes could be made in the details of construction above described without departing from the principle of the invention so long as the novel arrangement of parts and interaction thereof are preserved wholly or in part.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of two sets of similarly bent strips of wavelike outline adapted, when assembled, to form a grating of substantially uniform mesh, the members of one such set having tongues formed at their upper edges at all points of contact with members of the other set and projecting upwardly in the planes of the respective wave crests out of which they are and the members of such other set having similar tongues formed at such points of contact but projecting downwardly in the planes of the respective wave crests out of which they are formed; whereby said two sets of tongues may be interlocked one set behind the other throughout the entire lengths of each pair when a plurality of such members are assembled side by side and intermeshed, the members of one set alternating with the members of the other set.

2. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said tongues are cut in the edges of the respective strips and conform to the wave outline of the strip of which they form parts, but are separated from the adjacent edge portions of said slightly offset laterally from said tongue portions and all said cuts extend to one half the depth of the strip, so that the slots in each strip intermesh with those of its neighbor as their respective tongues are "slid one behind the other in assembling the grating.

3. As a new article of manufacture a grating such as defined in claim 1 in which certain of the tongues in each strip are centrally perforated,

' combined with a plurality of rods passing through said holes in said tongues which are in line one with another transversely of the grating.

. 4. As a new article of manufacture a grating such as defined in claim 1 in which certain of the tongues in each strip, combined with a plurality of rods passing through said holes in said tongues which are in line one with another transversely of the grating, and incombined with a plurality of rods passing through said holes in said tongues which are in line one with another transversely of the grating, and in which the end tongues of each strip are half the length of the others and are provided with semicircular end notches .registering with similar notches in the ends of abutting strips and all strips are of uniform lengths, the butt joints between strips of one set being staggered with reference to those between strips of the other set; whereby interleaved joints between abutting panels of the grating are produced.

6. A grating which is slightly flexible along transverse lines which comprises the combination of a plurality of strips of metal of uniform depth, each bent to a substantially uniform, wave-like outline, and assembled side by side with the crests of the waves interlocked one with another by intermeshed, vertically extending tongues, all said interlocked tongues being of uniform size and each having a depth equal to one-half the depth of the strip, and having uniformly located perforations at their bases, together with fastening members extending through said perforations; whereby the joints so formed are free from clamping pressure sufficient to produce rigidity, but are securely pinlocked.

7. A continuous grating comprising essentially, in combination, a plurality of strips of metal of uniform length each bent to a substantially uniform wavelike outline, which strips are assembled in groups side by side with the crests of the waves in each group interlocked by oppositely projecting, overlapping, vertically extending tongues, the ends of the strips in each group abutting the ends of the strips in an adjacent group or groups and each being formed of half a tongue section, and the strips in each group being similarly staggered endwise each with reference to its neighbors; whereby the pairs of abutting ends between groups are staggered longitudinally of the grating, thereby breaking joints, and are each keyed together by a wave section of a staggered strip intermeshed therewith, thereby connecting together successive groups of strips.

8. A grating such as defined in claim 9 in which one set of strips forming each end panel are half a mesh longer than the strips of the other set and have their exposed ends of full wave crest length; whereby they gether to form even ends for the grating assembly.

9. A continuous grating comprising, in combination, an assembly of a plurality of strips of metal of uniform depth, each having a wave-like outline with tongues formed in one edge of each strip at each wave crest by notches cut near the extremity of each such crest and extending to a depth of substantially one-half of the depth of the strip in which they are out, one set of alternate strips in said assembly having their said tongues are centrally perforated,

may be conveniently fastened tosaid strips is provided with. a hole of uniformoutline, combined with a plurality ofkeying members inserted in said holes.

11. A grating such as defined in claim 9' in which the central portion of each wave crest in said strips is provided with a hole of uniform, outline combined with a plurality of. rods extending transversely of the grating through said holes from one side to the other thereof.

LOUIS NORMAN LUMB. 

